Commonwealth v. Harding (Mass. 2020)
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts opinion reversing a lower court finding that the appellant violated his probation by not registering addresses where he performed home repairs and for performing repairs at an address where a child was present.
B.K. v. Grewal (D.N.J. 2020)
New Jersey district court opinion dismissing a constitutional challenge to New Jersey’s sex offense registration scheme in the context of plaintiffs who had been adjudicated as juveniles.
Wright v. Alaska (9th Cir. 2020)
9th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion finding that where an individual is in custody for a failure to register offense, they are ‘in custody’ for habeas corpus purposes with regard to the predicate sex offense that required registration.
Hart v. Hillsdale County (6th Cir. 2020)
6th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion affirming the denial of a motion to dismiss on qualified immunity grounds a civil rights lawsuit brought by a plaintiff who spent 19 months in prison for failure to register where state law did not require him to register as a sex offender.
United States v. Lusby (9th Cir. 2020)
9th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion reversing the dismissal of a federal failure to register indictment where the government could not show that the interstate travel was not legally compelled.
Willman v. United States Attorney General (6th Cir. 2020)
Federal district court in the Eastern District of Michigan dismissing broad constitutional challenge to federal SORNA.
Millard v. Rankin (10th Cir. 2020)
10th Circuit opinion reversing lower court finding that Colorado’s sex offense registration scheme violated 8th and 14th Amendments.
Reid v. Lee (M.D. Tenn. 2020)
Tennessee federal district court opinion granting preliminary injunction in favor of plaintiff who alleged that the application of Tennessee’s SORA to him violated Ex Post Facto prohibitions.
United States v. Seward (1st Cir. 2020)
1st Circuit Court of Appeals opinion holding that venue for a federal failure to register prosecution is proper in the departure jurisdiction.
United States v. Mingo (2nd Cir. 2020)
2nd Circuit Court of Appeals opinion hold that, in the context of military sex offenses, SORNA does not violate the non-delegation doctrine nor the Administrative Procedures Act.
Commonwealth v. Lacombe et al. (Pa. 2020)
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Opinion holding that Pennsylvania’s second-generation sex offense registration statute is non-punitive and thus ex post facto challenges against it fail.
United States v. Diaz (2nd Cir. 2020)
2nd Circuit Court of Appeals opinion holding that SORNA does not violate Double Jeopardy or Cruel and Unusual Punishment provisions in the context of a military sex offense.
United States v. Montgomery (5th Cir. 2020)
5th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion vacating a federal conviction for failure to register, where the Appellant was no longer required to comply with federal SORNA.
People v. Legoo (Ill. 2020)
Illinois Supreme Court Opinion affirming a criminal conviction for entering a park as someone with a past sex offense conviction in order to retrieve their own child.
H.R. v. New Jersey State Parole Board (N.J. 2020)
New Jersey Supreme Court opinion affirming that, under certain circumstances, GPS monitoring for individuals on parole supervision for life is justified by the special needs exception to the warrant requirement of the 4th Amendment.
State v. Chapman (Iowa 2020)
Iowa Supreme Court opinion holding that where a defendant enters an Alford plea to an offense that is not a sexual offense, the state may not use the minutes of the plea to establish sexual motivation for registration purposes and that the proper remedy is a remand to develop the record.
United States v. Tullie (9th Cir. 2020)
9th Circuit Opinion affirming and vacating in part conditions of supervised release that were imposed by the district court related to treatment and employment subsequent to a conviction for a sex offense.
Commonwealth v. Torsilieri (Pa. 2020)
Pennsylvania Supreme Court opinion vacating trial court opinion finding that Pennsylvania’s sex offense registry violated various constitutional provisions related to punishment and reputation, and remanded for fact-finding on rates of re-offense.
State v. Beam (Mont. 2020)
Montana Supreme Court Opinion reversing the trial court’s decision to revoke a suspended sentence for failing to complete a treatment program in prison when the original sentence did not specify that was a requirement.
United States v. Donk (4th Cir. 2020)
4th Circuit Court of Appeals affirming a condition of supervised release, based on individualized circumstances, prohibiting the Appellant from possessing sexually arousing materials.
Hearn v. Vasquez (W.D. Tex. 2020)
Texas federal trial court finding that changes in the law mandating registration subsequent to a plea agreement where registration was not contemplated did not violate contractual Due Process rights, and that the claims were time barred.
United States v. Richards (10th Cir. 2020)
10th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion holding that a defendant’s objection to a polygraph requirement in his supervision conditions on 5th Amendment grounds was premature.
Doe v. Rausch (E.D. Tenn. 2020)
Federal trial court in the Eastern District of Tennessee finding that Tennessee’s SORA could not be applied retroactively without implicating the Ex Post Facto clause.
McCulley v. People (Colo. 2020)
Colorado Supreme Court opinion finding that a deferred judgment does not count as a conviction for the purposes of a prohibition on a petition for removal from Colorado’s sex offense registry for those with more than one conviction for unlawful sexual behavior.
State v. Trujillo (Ariz. 2020)
Arizona Supreme Court opinion holding that Arizona’s sex offense registration statute is non-punitive and that registration could be required even when facts triggering registration were not proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Bakor v. Barr (8th Cir. 2020)
8th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion finding that criminal sexual conduct and failure to register as a sex offender are both crimes involving moral turpitude for immigration removal purposes.
T.S. v. Pennsylvania State Police (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2020)
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court opinion holding that Pennsylvania’s post-Muniz sex offense registration law constituted punishment, that thus could not be applied retroactively in the case of someone who committed their offense prior to any sex offense registry law.
State v. R.K. (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2020)
New Jersey appellate court finding that blanket social media ban imposed on people on supervised release was unconstitutional under the First Amendment.
United States v. Spivey (4th Cir. 2020)
4th Circuit Court of Appeals holding that venue in a federal failure to register case is proper in the district where the defendant departed from.
Blanke v. Board of Pardons (Utah)
Utah Supreme Court opinion affirming that Appellant’s due process rights were not violated when the parole board required him to complete a sex offender treatment program, where he was convicted of a non-sexual offense requiring registration and made statements in a presentence report indicating that sexual conduct was connected with the offense of conviction.